SerPUNt
SerPUNt is the two hundred-third episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on February 11, 2007. The episode was written by Greg Cohen, and directed by Robin Brigstocke. Synopsis When the Hill family throws a surprise party for Lady Bird (who is turning 14), Bobby tells his father’s friend Lucky that this is the one day of the year on which his dad most disappoints him. Lucky feels bad for Bobby because the dog’s getting all sorts of gifts while Bobby gets nothing and takes him outside to give him a new pet of his own a huge: a twelve-foot snake named Josh. Bobby brings Josh inside and the family is terrorized. The snake escapes into the bathroom and disappears down the toilet. Hank goes to County Animal Control to meet Tommy and Rollo, who don’t think they get paid enough to catch snakes but realize they can work overtime as long as the snake is loose. They are interviewed on the news and publicly blame Hank Hill for setting the deadly snake loose and create a public panic. The County Commission decides to throw all their money at Tommy and Rollo and hire a third man to catch the deadly predator. Hank talks Dale into becoming a snake catcher. Tommy and Rollo hire him because he’s the worst man for the job. The town is in a panic and afraid to use their toilets. Everybody blames Hank. Even his clients refuse to do business with him. Dale, Tommy and Rollo however have become local heroes. The town passes a new bill: Bond Measure S, to keep the town safe from snakes. Increasingly frustrated, Hank gets suspicious after Dale tells him he’s never seen the Snake Control room. They go immediately to check it out and find Tommy and Rollo dancing to a music video with the high tech equipment the government bought for them to catch the snake. Realizing they’ve been duped, Dale and Hank decide to go snake hunting in the sewer. Once they get down there, they realize it’s home to many snakes, as well as herds of rats. Tommy and Rollo find a note that Dale left for them and decide to go after Dale and Hank, fearful that they might catch the snake first and expose them as frauds. They catch up with them just as Dale swims into a varmint pit. Hank tells Tommy and Rollo that if they don’t catch the snake and repudiate Bond Measure S, Dale’s wife will report their fraudulent activities on the news. Dale, Tommy and Rollo find and kill Josh. At the County Commission meeting, Tommy and Rollo vote to get rid of Bond Measure S, Dale retires and the men return to drinking beer on the corner. Trivia *Ladybird's 14th birthday is celebrated in this episode. *One of the signs in Hank's yard was for Sizemore Realty. *The character Maria Montalvo, who was introduced in the second season episode "Junkie Business", makes a cameo at Strickland Propane. * Tommy was voiced by guest star John Goodman. As a joke, the character opposite Tommy, Rollo, bares a striking resemblance to John Goodman. * This episode has a notable goof; In the Season 4 episode Not in My Back Hoe, all of the houses in the neighborhood (or at least on Rainey Street) are shown to have septic tanks (the subplot was the installation of a new septic tank at Bill's house). In this episode, Josh slithers down the toilet and ends up in Arlen's sewer system, which means that the houses on Rainey Street have public sewage. Quotes *'(Hank and Dale are descending into Arlen's sewers to catch the snake) Dale: "These public sewers are labyrinthian! Since Tommy and Rollo never actually trained me, we could get lost down there, become one of the mysterious sewer people. Over time, my memories of the English language will disappear, and I will be forced to invent my own - hib-hob-gibble-boo-boo! Skeeble!" *'Hank:' "The sewers are completely safe!" Jo Jack: "Let's hear you say that while sitting on a toilet." *''(Bobby's snake Josh starts moving towards Luanne)'' Luanne: "It's coming to kill me! It knows I'm a Christian!" Notes *Tagline: "Hib-hob-gibble-boo-boo!" - Dale *The alternative title to this episode was "Snakes in a Suburb." Allusions *The title SerPUNt is an allusion to the scene in the 1951 animated film production of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. Alice has sampled the mushroom and grown tall enough to protrude through a tree canopy disturbing a nesting bird who repeatedly cries out "Serpent!" in a distinct way (SerPUNt!) in panic while Alice tries to calm her and deny being a serpent. *This episode is an allusion to the popular Harry Potter saga by author J.K. Rowling. Specifically book two of the series Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in which protagonist Harry Potter must explore the Hogwarts' sewer and plumbing systems to find and vanquish the basilisk (a mythical representation of a snake). Category:Episodes Category:Season 11 Category:Episodes that involve Animals Category:Episodes starring Dale